BULLETIN - AT 5:49 P.M. ET:  Iran has now proclaimed its sacred judgment on Barack Obama:

U.S. steps to renew sanctions and seize a New York skyscraper linked to Iran show that President Barack Obama is no better than his predecessor George W. Bush, Iranian parliament speaker Ali Larijani said on Sunday.

Larijani's statement, which was followed by chants of "Death to America" among MPs in the legislature, was the latest from Tehran voicing disappointment in the new U.S. administration's policies toward the Islamic Republic.

It came as Obama, during a visit to Asia on Sunday, said time was running out for diplomacy in a dispute over Iran's nuclear program, which Tehran says is for peaceful purposes but which the West suspects has military aims.

Since taking office in January, Obama has sought to reach out diplomatically to Iran, but the dispute over Tehran's atomic activities continues.

"After one year of giving speeches and baseless slogans, it is a disgrace to see the behavior and the attitudes of this president are not better than his predecessor's," Larijani told parliament, the official IRNA news agency said.

COMMENT:  Y'mean, they can't tell the difference?  And these guys are building nuclear weapons? 

Larijani's comments may well panic the Obama White House, which will have to explain them to the Massachusetts and California delegations to Congress, as well as to Christiane Amanpour and Keith Olbermann.

November 15,  2009